Universal Pictures via Everett Collection
We might have to wait a little longer for the next installment in the Jason Bourne franchise, but if the rumors are true, it might just be worth the wait. Tentative reports over at Latino Review say that the reason that the fifth Bourne movie was moved from its original August 2015 release date to one in July 2016 is because director Justin Lin is planning to bring back Jason Bourne himself: Matt Damon. Though the actor and national treasure has long said that he wouldn’t reprise the role without director Paul Greengrass on board, it seems that the revised script by Andrew Baldwin might have been enough to get him to change his mind.
The site also states that Damon might be considering a return to the Bourne franchise as a way of bouncing back from recent poor box office performance, but considering that both Elysium and The Monuments Men did reasonably well, we think Damon’s still got what it takes to open a blockbuster. So, if Damon is looking to return, it seems more likely that his motivation is love of the character, rather than kick starting his career, which means that the real question isn’t whether Damon will make another Bourne movie. The real question is whether or not he should.
There’s no denying that another Damon-fronted Bourne film would be exciting. Though The Bourne Legacy did its best to tell a new, interesting story, Damon is really the heart of the franchise. Without him as the lead, the films fall apart. Plus, Damon’s involvement with the new film would ensure that every single detail would be on point, since there’s no way that he would ever sign on for another Bourne adventure unless both the script and vision met the high bar set by the first three. It’s always rare to get a smart, well-crafted action film – let alone a trilogy! – but since Damon delivered them with the Bourne trilogy, it’s basically a guarantee that we’d have another exciting, high-quality blockbuster ready to hit theaters.
But even though moviegoers might want one, Damon doesn’t need to make another Bourne movie. Elysium and The Monuments Men might not have done as well as predicted, but they were still very successful films, and his name still has a great impact on box office results. His career isn’t in a slump, and he’s got a few high-profile projects lined up, including The Martian, a Whitey Bulger biopic that he is producing with Ben Affleck, a role in Interstellar, and several big television projects. He has more than enough interesting, original works lined up to keep him busy, and allow him to explore other creative endeavors like writing and producing.
Part of the reason that Damon has been able to have such a successful career is because he chooses diverse projects. Sure, he made three Bournes and three Ocean’s movies, but he followed each of them up with films that allowed him to play a completely different role. It wouldn’t make sense for him to now backtrack and go back to playing Jason Bourne now that he’s spent so much time and had so much success exploring different types of characters. Besides, Damon would be 45 by the time filming begins. If the fifth Bourne is a success, the studio will probably want him back for a sixth. That’s a long time to be tied to a franchise, and even though it’s not as intimidating as Affleck’s proposed tenure as Batman, it’s still going to interfere with a lot of the projects he has lined up.
In the end, the Bourne franchise needs Damon much more than he need to step back into Jason Bourne’s shoes. He’s still one of the biggest stars in the world, still carrying major films to success and he’s still the most well-liked man in Hollywood. As much as we’d love to see more of Jason Bourne, Damon will be just fine if he stays away. At this point, that’s probably his best move. After all, if things ever do go downhill for him, he can just reboot it as an older-man action franchise, like Liam Neeson and Bruce Willis. They seem to be doing pretty well for themselves.
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Things have not gone well for humanity since James Franco decided to help a chimpanzee get better at puzzles. In the new trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, hitting theaters July 11 — three years after the surprising success of Rupert Wyatt's Rise (which, logistically, really seems like it should follow "Dawn") of the Planet of the Apes — we see that mankind has dwindled to to the likes of Jason Clarke (ape-friendly), Gary Oldman (anti-ape), a couple of dunderheaded drunks who still don't seem to have understand that apes are smart now, and a campfire resident who prophecizes about how apes have the upper hand — opposable thumbs and all — in that they don't need fancy things like electricity or heat.
20th Century Fox
But apes don't want war, so insists Caesar, Andy Serkis' top banana chimp who led the '11 picture and incited a revolution with the simple act of cookieing Rocket (and oh what a mistake that seems to have been... like Franco-father, like monkey-son). Caesar wants to live in harmony with the few remaining humans, but his fur-laden brethren don't seem to be on the same page.
Meanwhile, we can only assume that somewhere in the mix, a kindly, well-educated bonobo is developing a serum to boost the intellectual capacity of the horses that the apes have been using as transport, thus leading to a follow-up series in which horse trounces primate-kind.
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Lawyers representing Jennifer Lopez's ex-boyfriend have threatened to take legal action over a false story about his sex life. Dancer Casper Smart, who is believed to have split from Lopez several months ago, has issued a warning to editors at TheDirty.com through his attorneys, urging the publication to retract a story which suggested he had relations with two transsexuals he met through Instagram.com.
Lawyers representing Smart, who denies all claims he cheated on the superstar, have sent a letter to the site's bosses threatening to take legal action if they do not publish a retraction. They have also reportedly sent letters to the two transsexuals.
The website's founder Nik Richie has hit back at Smart and his team, telling TMZ.com, "Casper, go get a real job. I heard Instagram is hiring over in their compliance department... Stop blaming everyone else for your problems."

Warner Bros. Pictures
Are monster movies making a comeback? With the latest reboot of Godzilla hitting theaters, and the box office success of Pacific Rim and Clash of the Titans remakes, it seems Hollywood is not only enamored with superheroes who protect cities but with the monsters who want to destroy them. Creature features have been popular since the cult horror films of the '30s, to the Japanese monster or "kaiju" movies of the '50s and the campy onslaught of the '80s. Some have achieved classic status while hundreds of others are laughably bad. In honor of monsters stomping across the big screen again, here are some our favorite freaks.
Godzilla (1954, 1998, 2014)
A product of the nuclear age, Godzilla has wreaked havoc for over six decades, with countless spinoff cartoons, films and toys, but has retained his appetite for destruction. Though the special effects have evolved – from a Japanese man in a rubber suit to animatronic baby lizards in Roland Emmerich’s disposable 1998 reboot – the only thing we fear in this latest rebirth of the kaiju craze is another Led Zeppelin cover by Puff Daddy.
Cloverfield (2008)
In the same way that Godzilla played upon the fears of post-Hiroshima Japan, Cloverfield is truly a creature of post-9/11 anxiety. Having deciding that America needed a metropolis-stomping monster of its own, J.J Abrams teamed up with director Matt Reeves to concoct this found-footage tale of terror. While the jerky cinematography can be straining after an hour, the monster was sufficiently terrifying and the film made us weary of the subway for quite some time.
Pacific Rim (2013)
Don't write off this epic blockbuster as a Transformers lookalike, Pacific Rim manages to serve up a double-dose of giant monsters and equally giant robots to wage battle against them. The influence of Godzilla is apparent throughout the film and director Guillermo del Toro even dedicated the film to the late Ishiro Honda, who directed the original Godzilla. If stylized mayhem is your cup of tea, you'll want seconds with this special-effects masterpiece.
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Cabin in the Woods is like a bloody, tongue-in-cheek love letter to every horror movie trope there is, from one of the most beloved nerd auteurs. Joss Whedon flips the script and still manages to scare the crap out of audiences. With cameos galore, a whole fun house of diabolical creatures and twists upon twists, it became a cult classic upon release. Let’s just say we'll think twice about heading to that cabin upstate.
The Host (2006)
One of the most original movie monsters of the early aughts hails from South Korea, from the talented director, Bong Joon-ho. After tainting the Han River with dangerous chemicals, a mysterious creature emerges and attacks the citizens of Seoul. After the creature takes a little girl hostage, it forces her family to take matters into their own hands and take on the monster themselves. One part family drama and one part CGI monster masterpiece, The Host carved out a special place in the hearts of monster-movie lovers everywhere. Some might also recognize the film's heroine Doona Bae from the recent film, Cloud Atlas.
King Kong (1933)
As the forefather of the monster-movie genre, the original King Kong created the blueprint that many other thrillers – be it aliens or dinosaurs – would follow. The not-so-gentle giant created by special effects pioneer Willis H. O'Brien was a monster with heart – even when he was scaling the Empire State Building. Not many films feature a misunderstood monster, but King Kong was an ape of a different color. Peter Jackson's 2005 version did the original justice, but the 1993 classic is a must-see primer for any creature feature fan.
Alien (1979)
A monster movie is only as great as the scare factor of its monsters. A slow reveal is essential, but after you're faced with the beast, it must be compelling enough to terrify us all the way through. Compared to the torture-porn of today's horror, Alien can be considered high art. This space-set operatic tale embedded a nightmare we're still trying to shake off. With Alien, Ridley Scott proved he could create a blockbuster and one of cinema's most butt-kicking heroines in the form of Ripley – immortalized by Sigourney Weaver.
The Thing (1982)
John Carpenter is no Hitchcock, but he certainly knows how to titillate and gross out his audiences simultaneously. Carpenter's remake of Howard Hawks' tense '50s sci-fi thriller The Thing from Another World may lack the subtlety of the original, but it manages to capture the isolation and paranoia that takes over the skeleton crew of an Arctic research station. For monster enthusiasts, there's plenty to geek out over with these shape-shifting alien parasites. Inside of tying up the film with an obvious good-guys-win or everyone-dies conclusion, Carpenter opts for an intelligent ending that's open for interpretation.
The Mist (2007)
The beauty in this post-apocalyptic tale is the slow, steady build of unavoidable terror. It is this type of film where folks are holed up in a grocery store, mall, or (insert consumerist symbol here) and turn 0n each other while facing a greater foe, that makes us imagine backup plans when the world goes to pot. Based on the Stephen King novella, the film boasts an impressive billing for a horror film that includes Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, and Andre Braugher. Director Frank Darabont shifts the focus to the human protagonists rather than the CGI monsters and was even responsible for uncredited rewrite on the Godzilla 2014 script, which is telling if you've seen both films.
Tremors (1990)
When it comes to taking down giant sand worms, look no further than the dynamic duo of Kevin Bacon and country star Reba McEntire who makes paranoid survivalists seem utterly charming. While the film marked McEntire's acting debut, it was rare for a film star such as Bacon to star in a seemingly B-movie horror flick. But the sharp performances, cheeky dialogue and truly terrifying monsters made the film more than just a midnight movie romp... and it led to four more films!
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Release the Kraken! This epic fantasy tale of Greek mythology is a childhood favorite for many and set the bar for innovative special effects before the dawn of CGI. It featured brave heroes, beautiful heroines, stop-motion artistry and Hollywood heavyweights like Laurence Olivier who brought some gravitas to the film – making a piece of cinematic history whose remakes garnered a new generation of fans.
Gremlins (1984)
A lot of questionable films passed for children's entertainment in the '80s and Gremlins was definitely one of them. Sure, you had your adorable fluffy creatures begging for toy spin-offs, but whatever you do, don't get them wet! While the film had all the trappings of a B-movie, it was also a commentary on all our favorite movie myths – monsters, the holidays, and folklore. Those creatures may have kept us up at night during slumber parties, but they're delightfully campy to watch as an adult.
Predator (1987)
Aliens, terrorists, and fiscal policy – none of these stand a chance against The Arnold. Sure, the Predator closely resembles John Travolta in Battlefield Earth, but at the time it would inspire fear looking back at you on the video store shelf. As one of the many blast-'em-up blockbuster films of the '80s, it's got the advantages of a great monster, an exotic location, and slick action sequences.
Trollhunter (2010)
The found-footage setup lends itself perfectly to monster movies because of the chaotic feeling it creates with camerawork. In the same vein as Blair Witch Project, Trollhunter features plenty of blurry night-vision footage as a group of filmmakers stumble around the snowy Norwegian countryside looking for trolls. The CGI trolls are impressive and there's plenty of hilarious hijinks to be had when you're out hunting for such creatures.
Monsters (2010)
The sub-genre of indie monster movies is a small one, but British director Gareth Edwards proves you can still terrify audiences on a shoestring budget and rely on a human-driven drama rather than special effects to scare. The special effects artist-turned-director was one of the main reasons we were excited for the latest Godzilla effort. With his directorial debut, Monsters, Edwards knows a thing or two about building up a reveal in this futuristic tale of galactic beings trapped between borders who may or may not be real antagonists this scenario.
Pitch Black (2000)
Vin Diesel is no Laurence Olivier, but the role of Riddick was tailor-made for him. After a plane carrying a dangerous convict crash-lands on an alien planet, the last thing the crew has to worry about is their dangerous cargo. While one could argue the humans are the real villains of the piece, Diesel created the ultimate anti-hero in Riddick that launched a franchise. After night descends, that's when the real fun begins.
The Descent (2005)
Forget sawing your arm off in 127 Hours, the real danger of being trapped in a cave system is the band of flesh-eating humanoids that lurk below. The name of the this film should really be Claustrophobia, because that's all you'll feel for the first hour as a team of female spelunkers descends into its doom. A true creature feature can only succeed if it spends as much time on the set-up as it does on the payoff.
Jeepers Creepers (2001)
Before he was the Mac guy and Mr. Drew Barrymore, Justin Long was just the unsuspecting prey to a flesh-flaying creature in Anytown, U.S.A. While most monster movies are about the big reveal, this one actually gets less scary when the mystery monster finally shows up. Long's cocky skepticism eventually bites him in the ass (and perhaps everywhere else) but damn if that song won't ever leave your head and send chills down your spine thereafter.
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Shark movies should be considered their own genre altogether. If Jaws is on one side of the spectrum and Sharknado is on the other, Deep Blue Sea would land somewhere right in the middle. The premise is almost laughable. Most medical studies and drugs have their side effects, but super-smart, genetically engineered Mako sharks is usually not one of them. The idea of the monsters seeking revenge is great and the escape scenes in the film are not without merit – plus there are some comedic moments that keep it from taking itself too seriously
Mimic (1997)
Throughout the mid-to-late '90s, you couldn't pass a video store aisle (remember those?) without an endless amount of monstrous horror movie titles jumping out at you. Amidst the leprechauns, anacondas, and Ernest Scared Stupids was Guillermo del Toro's insect thriller Mimic. As the director's ambitious English-language debut, it had all the elements of a great monster flick: a scientific experiment gone awry, a noir setting, and a clever creature. While it can veer into B-movie territory at times, del Toro's daft directing keeps you on your toes even 'til the end.

HBO
After a season that has seen the death of a king, the gruesome head-smashing of our newest hero, heartbreak, betrayal, and giants, it's somewhat surprising that "The Children" ends on such a hopeful note, with Arya Stark staring out over the sea, on her way to a new life in Braavos.
It's a fitting and satisfying ending for a season that has seen power shift so drastically, one that has taken the status quo, or whatever comes closest in Westeros, torn it apart, and scattered the pieces to the wind. It's an ending full of possibility, change and even some excitement, one that firmly places both the children and the Children in the spotlight for next year, by focusing firmly on the future. And it's the capper to what is perhaps Game of Thrones' best season finale yet, an episode that managed to have thematic coherence and shocking twists and turns, and to have put the pieces for upcoming seasons in place while still being an entertaining hour of television. Even if Lady Stoneheart never showed up.
Normally, Game of Thrones packs the biggest shocks of the season into its penultimate episode, leaving the finale open as the time when characters can react and recover from whatever tragic and gruesome death (because it is always a tragic and gruesome death) just shook everything up. It would be easy for "The Children" to be nothing but a reaction episode showing the way the Battle for Castle Black and Tyrion's trial by combat has caused shock waves through the Seven Kingdoms, and saved all of the big shocks for next season. But the fourth season of Game of Thrones subverted its expected formula early, killing off Joffrey in the second episode and packing at least one major twist or death in every episode since, some more successfully than others. Joffrey's death has had the biggest, most expansive impact on the series since Ned Stark was beheaded. Like that original shock it has the biggest impact not on the old guard who used to hold the power in the Seven Kingdoms, but on the next generation, and "The Children" saw that generation inherit their legacy, their future, and in the case of Tyrion, their fathers' worst characteristics.
If the final shot of Arya on the boat is a perfect summation of the episode's themes and of the possibility that awaits these characters in seasons to come, the shot of Tyrion threatening his father with a crossbow while the latter is on the toilet is also fitting, a physical representation of the circle of abuse, desire for power, and hatred coming to a close. Though Tyrion has never been the most noble center, he had a goodness to him that Jaime and certainly Cersei were lacking, and that separated him from the father who never wanted to claim him as his son. However, killing Shae, the only woman he has ever loved, by strangling her in his father's bed is such a characteristically Tywin act that it connects the two in a way that Tyrion has never anticipated or wanted. Peter Dinklage gives a great performance here, exhibiting all of the horror and heartbreak he feels at her second betrayal and his reaction to it, as well as the shock at what he's capable of. Even Tyrion seems to know that he wasn't justified in his actions, that they were cruel and unforgivable and exactly what Tywin would do in that situation.
HBO
So when he holds that crossbow up to his father, and declares with a cold sincerity "I am your son. I have always been your son," he's not just making sure that Tywin faces up to his legacy before he dies, he's also admitting the harshness and cruelty that was always there, under the surface. Despicable though he was, Tywin was a wonderful character to watch, always capable of shaking things up without warning, and he will be missed. Charles Dance gives his last lines a dry wit, bantering easily with Dinklage before taking a stake to the chest, and it's hard not to regret the death of someone who can make sitting on the toilet an act of dignity and grace. But Tyrion shows no mercy, leaving his father there to die in humiliation before being spirited away on a ship with Varys in tow.
His last moments of the season aren't the only parallel to Arya's storyline. She too is forced to choose between mercy and cruelty when faced with a dying Hound, who has been brutally beaten and fatally wounded by Brienne. In a way, she chooses both, ignoring his taunts and pleas for her to kill him and simply walking away, leaving him to the long, agonizing process of dying. Though Arya doesn't put him out of his misery, she can't bring herself to murder the man who, admittedly in a dangerous and unconventional fashion, protected her on her journey. Arya has another parallel in Brienne: they are two strong, self-sufficient women who were more interested in learning to sword fight than in adhering to the way society expects them to behave. Both have seen cruelty and abuse, both have pulled themselves up by the bootstraps and continued on through everything, and both need to go their own ways and set out on their own journeys. Brienne is offering protection and shelter, but Arya knows that she can only rely on herself now. She never fully trusted the Hound, and she certainly doesn't trust Brienne; as these two surrogate parents battle over custody of her, Arya makes the decision to protect herself, and in that moment she grows up more than she ever did by stabbing a man with Needle.
Just as one of Arya's journeys has thankfully come to an end, so has her brother's. Both Arya and Bran had some exciting moments this season, but the vast majority of their screentime was spent wandering around in the wilderness, and frankly, it was one of the less interesting plots of the year. But watching Arya set sail for a new life and Bran-as-Hodor beat up skeleton zombies makes everything worth it, if only because it sets up some truly exciting arcs for next year. Bran comes into his own on a trek to see The Children, the ancient people who have inhabited Westeros since the beginning of time, and who will exist until the end. Still, in order to gain anything in Game of Thrones, you must first lose something of value, and in order to grow into his Warging abilities and his future, Bran must watch Jojen get killed by a skeleton, although the sadness was somewhat undercut by the hilariously awkward CGI the moment involved.
It's a price that Jon Snow knows all too well, having watched the love of his life die last week. Now in command of Castle Black (in action, if not in name) he sets out on a suicide mission to establish a peace treaty with Mance Rayder, only to have the moment interrupted when Stannis Baratheon rides in with an army to rescue Castle Black. Despite Stannis having the army, it's Jon who has the power here, finally getting to embrace his legacy as Ned Stark's son, rather than being shunted aside as his bastard. Like Ned, Jon is one of the few truly noble men in Westeros, but he's seen more than his father did, and he understands that the world and the people who inhabit it aren't black and white, so he has a chance at making it further in the game than Ned did. For Jon, it's not only about right and wrong, but about what's smart, what's merciful, and what's best for each individual situation.
"The Children" also sees Cersei and Daenerys making difficult choices in order to protect their children. Cersei, desperate not to be separated from her last child, reveals to Tywin the truth about her relationship with Jaime. Lena Headey's performance has gone mostly underappreciated as Cersei slides further and further into despair, and her wild-eyed delivery as Cersei plays the final card she has up her sleeve in a bid to hold onto what little power is left to her is pitch perfect. Dany, meanwhile, is forced to choose between her dragons and her people, and must lock her "children" away for everyone's protection. It's a sad, ironic moment for the woman who prides herself on being the "Breaker of Chains," but it's a crucial part of Dany learning to be a great leader, an ancestral legacy left for her by her own family.
In the process of establishing the significant changes that these characters have gone through and the new futures that await them on the other side of the hiatus, "The Children" also drives home how loose the show's structure has become. It still struggles to find a way to balance the numerous storylines so that the important moments have the right amount of impact and weight, but with every character at a different point in the journey that was laid out for them in the books, it's difficult to predict what the show is going to cover in the upcoming seasons, and just how well it will be able to keep a hold on everything. Just like Arya's future is laid out ahead of her in endless possibilities, the show's future is just as uncertain, and there are endless ways that events can play out, and endless changes that can be made.
Episode grade: A-, or Two flame-throwing child fairies that live in the woods. Here's hoping things get even more otherworldly and fantastic in the episodes left to come.
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Sony Pictures via Everett Collection
A long way from their little watched but brilliant animated MTV comedy Clone High, Phil Lord and Chris Miller have risen meteorically over the past few years, and have quickly become the brightest comedy duo in Hollywood. The two have been working together for nearly 20 years and have become masters of taking seemingly soulless adaptations and crafting smart and hilariously self-aware comedies. Only a few months after the release of The Lego Movie, the duo's latest, 22 Jump Street, is set to hit theaters on Friday. We got a chance to sit down with this symbiotic comedy writing/directing machine as they discuss the struggles of having two people and only one director's chair, how their particular college experiences made it into the film, and why the best jokes are the ones that not everyone gets.
Lord and Miller discuss the challenges of having two directors working on one film:
Phil Lord: "We’re both creative people. We both have a vision of how it should be. Things can’t always be exactly the same, and you have to have the humility to let it be the other guy’s idea sometimes."
Chris Miller: "It’s a big fear for an actor, that one of us is going to say one thing in one ear while the other is going to say the opposite in another and their brain is going to explode. We develop the scripts for a while, and we talk about the scenes a lot and we have a similar sensibility and the same goal for the movie. So when we come into a scene we’re pretty much aligned in what we want to get out of it. In the times where we have a disagreement about what we want to get out of a scene, that’s why you have multiple takes."
Lord: "It takes just as long to do another take [as] it does to argue about whether you should do another take. Just do one. And I trust this guy if he has something that he wants to do, we should just do it."
Miller: "Yeah, if one of us wants to get a sweeter version or a real wild version, you can figure it out in the editing room."
But sometimes there's trouble in paradise:
Lord: "We’ve had those moments, like, 'I’m going to lunch with someone else.'"
Miller: "We’re like brothers, where we fight and love each other and respect each other. We’ve had such a long history together. We’ve known each other for 20 years."
Lord: "Like many men, our strategy of working out our conflict is: get pissed off, walk away, and then never speak of it again."Miller: "Avoidance. It works!"
The directors discuss how they infuse their own personal brand of humor into their work, even if not everyone gets it:
Miller: "We find that we’re trying to make ourselves laugh. Some of that stuff that only a small percentage of the audience gets, it’s kind of fun if you’re one of the people that gets it. You’re part of the club, and if it goes by quickly and doesn’t sit there like it’s a big swing, then you can sort of get away with it. Sometimes we’ve tried things that are too obscure but were clearly attempts at jokes. And the audience didn’t respond, so we [took] them out ... It’s been our philosophy to not talk down to the audience."
The duo discusses their shared comedy touchstones in college:
Miller: "When we met, we had Harold and Maude, The Jerk, Billy Wilder, Young Frankenstein. We bonded over the same movies."Lord: "You don’t like Howard the Duck as much as I do."Miller: "This is true. See, there you go. We’re not exactly the same."
And how their own college hijinks inspired a party scene in the film:
Lord: "Well, we have the best pong-playing [scene] in the history of cinema. Or the most accurate, I should say. We had to teach Channing [Tatum] and Wyatt [Russell] how to play..."Miller: "Dartmouth style."Lord: "Very specific Dartmouth rules. Lob only, you gotta use paddles. None of this Beirut throwing nonsense. So we’re just off-screen playing in those shots."
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Scholastic Entertainment/PBS Kids
Seatbelts everyone! In an attempt to rescue everyone from the drudgery of normal field trips, Netflix has acquired a new series based on the Magic School Bus books, which will be available for streaming by 2016. According to the New York Times, the new show, Magic School Bus 360° will feature a modernized Ms. Frizzle – though we assume the glowing earrings will stick around – and will tackle scientific questions and topics that affect modern students.
The show will also incorporate the advancements in technology that have occurred since the show went off the air in 1997, featuring robotics like Carlos’ “Smart Suit,” which “determines his body’s vital signs instantly” – which is likely less about modern technology than it is the result of someone suing Ms. Frizzle for going inside their digestive system without permission. But while robots and smart suits are a good place to start, there are a lot more scientific questions that affect us every day. After all, things are a lot different now than they were in the mid-to-late ‘90s, and so the new series should reflect those changes, which is why we've come up with some ideas of our own for important scientific questions that Ms. Frizzle, Liz and the Magic School Bus can answer. You're welcome, Netflix.
What does “eating clean” even mean? Arnold’s lunch keeps giving him a stomach ache, and Phoebe thinks that all of the junk food he’s eating might be making him sick, and recommends that he start “eating clean” like they did at her old school. Arnold is skeptical, so Ms. Frizzle takes the class inside both his and Phoebe’s digestive systems so he can see the difference for himself. Gwyneth Paltrow guest stars.
Where can I get the best WiFi connection? Ralphie got a new smart phone for his birthday, and won’t go anywhere that doesn’t have a WiFi connection. When he refuses to go outside for recess because the playground’s connection is patchy, Ms. Frizzle decides to teach Ralphie about the way wireless internet travels, though everyone is frustrated by the fact that the bus only has dial-up.
Is stress going to kill me? The school has a big standardized test coming up, and Dorothy Ann is freaking out about it. Ms. Frizzle, worried about D.A.’s spontaneous crying jags and the way she’s mainlining coffee, decides to take the class into her brain to study the effects that stress can have on the nervous system, and to teach them how to manage their hectic nine-year-old lives.
What makes something go viral? Carlos is obsessed with dumb viral videos, but when he tries filming one of his own, he’s disappointed ot find that he’s not getting as many views as he wants. He asks Ms. Frizzle for her advice, and together, the class analyzes Internet trends and viewing patterns in order to help Carlos get the online fame he so desperately craves.
How can we prove that fossils are real? Arnold’s annoying cousin Janet comes to visit on the day that the class is studying dinosaurs. When she reveals that she doesn’t believe fossils are real, but rather placed there by the Devil to trick the 24-hour media cycle into believing his lies, Ms. Frizzle teaches the class about carbon dating and takes them on a journey through time to watch the fossils form.
When will global warming wipe out humanity? Tim and Wanda are tasked with coming up with arguments for and against global warming before their debate tournament, but the rest of the class gets caught up in their preparations, and soon everyone is taking different sides. To settle the argument so Tim and Wanda don’t miss the bus, Ms. Frizzle takes them through different parts of the ecosystem to learn whether global warming is the real deal or just a myth.
What’s the best way to take a flattering selfie? Keesha’s become obsessed with documenting her life on Instagram – what she had for lunch, what she wore that day, what insane adventure they’re going on – but she’s still having trouble figuring out her angles, and her selfies never come out the way she wants them to. Ms. Frizzle teaches the class about the effects that lighting and composition can have on a picture, so they can take the perfect selfie. The episode ends with the class recreating Ellen DeGeneres’ famous Oscars picture.
How many television episodes is it healthy to binge-watch in one sitting? Ms. Frizzle notices that the class seems more sluggish lately, and when they reveal that they’ve all been staying up late to catch up on the new season of Yellow Is the New Bus, she decides to teach them about the importance of moderation with a trip into the brain to visit the pleasure center and see the effects of binge-watching first-hand.
How do we make our crystal meth better than everyone else’s? After she receives a shocking cancer diagnosis, Ms. Frizzle decides to turn to the drug trade to pay her medical bills so that she doesn’t have to sell the bus. She teaches the class basic chemistry and economics as they work together to create a new kind of meth and soon they become the most notorious drug kingpins in the country.
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Jennifer Lopez has assured fans she will be joining Pitbull at the World Cup opening ceremony in Brazil on Thursday (12Jun14), two days after soccer officials announced she had pulled out of the performance. The superstar teamed up with rapper Pitbull and singer Claudia Leitte to record the official FIFA World Cup anthem We Are One (Ole Ola) and they were due to help kick off the high-profile soccer competition this week by hitting the stage during the opening festivities at the Arena de Sao Paulo.
On Sunday (08Jun14), FIFA bosses claimed unspecified "production issues" had prompted Lopez to cancel the gig, but she insists she wouldn't miss it for the world and has blamed her crazy work schedule for causing planning issues. Speaking to the Associated Press on Tuesday (10Jun14), she said, "I'm coming. I leave tonight. We always were going. "I think people get anxious, especially with me and my schedule when I'm like, 'Ah, OK, I can leave this day, that day, I don't know if we can make it.' "People get nervous and I think it was a little bit premature to announce anything. But we are definitely going."
Lopez, Pitbull and Leitte will take the stage before host nation Brazil takes on Croatia in the first match of the World Cup. The superstar, who recently split from boyfriend Casper Smart, has been heavily promoting the upcoming release of her new album A.K.A., which is due to hit retailers next week (begs16Jun14).

Gwyneth Paltrow has teamed up with celebrity stylist David Babaii to help trendy Americans achieve perfect hair. The couple has been recruited to help develop new projects for bosses at Blo, America's blowdry bar.
Longtime pals Paltrow and Babaii have worked together on hair-related projects before and created a private blowdry salon for members of the actress' trainer Tracy Anderson's studio, and now their partnership has really taken off.
Babaii tells People.com, "I am just so excited and so is Gwyneth. I get to work with someone that's been my dear friend and inspiration for so many years. How much better can it get?
"Gwyneth is so smart and cool and we work so well together. We've been friends for 12 years, and she's been such a support to me with everything. When we opened our first blow dry bar with Tracy Anderson, it was for members only, but there was overwhelming demand."
And their new clients are in good hands - Babaii has styled Nicole Kidman and Sarah Jessica Parker, among others.

What better follow-up to ice princesses than superheroes? The first teaser trailer for Big Hero 6, Disney’s first animated feature since Frozen stormed its way into our hearts and ears last year, was released on Thursday, and it seems the studio is aiming to give superheroes an adorable makeover. The film follows robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada and his robot Baymax, who team up with a group of crime fighters and fellow child geniuses to protect their fictional city of San Fransoyko. The Big Hero 6 comics books are one of Marvel's more obscure brands, designed as a mini-series in 1998, and because it's not well-known to people who aren't hardcore comic book readers, Disney Animation has a bit more freedom to play around with the source material in their first animated adaptation of Marvel comic.
And the studio used that freedom to revamp the plot and several characters to tell a different, more Disney-esque story. The original comics centered on a group of heroes who were recruited by the Japanese government to become a state-sanctioned band of heroes. Big Hero 6 was headed up by Silver Samurai, a freelance hero and part-time body guard and Sunfire, the country's most famous superhero and mutant, neither of whom are set to appear in Disney's film. Though many of the storylines and artwork are aimed at teenagers – and the characters themselves are mostly teens – there are plenty of adult-friendly elements to the books, including Honey Lemon's skimpy costume, her relationship with Hiro, and Baymax's "special relationship" with Hiro's mother, which came about as the result of Hiro using his father's brain to help program the robot.
The film, however, appears to be explicitly targeting a younger demographic, from again down the characters to playing up the film's connections to Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph over its Marvel origins. The animators also did away with the anime influences of the comics in favor of art reminiscent of Wreck-It Ralph and Bolt, which allows Disney to further put its stamp on the project. Though many of these changes were likely the result of the studio attempting to establish Big Hero 6 as its own property, they also help market the film towards a younger audience, which is Disney's primary target.
In many ways, the studio is smart to rework the source material for a younger audience. Designing the film to skew towards a younger audience opens up the range of people who will potentially come see a film – after all, age has never prevented people from seeing animated films – which results in bigger potential box office returns for the studio. By aging Big Hero 6 down, Disney is able to take a comic that appealed to a wide range of readers, and turn it into a true "all ages" experience. Besides, targeting children not only brings in bigger tickets sales, thanks to the adults who need to accompany them to the theater, but it also allows them to advertise both Iron Man and Baymax merchandise to the same demographic.
Of course, rebranding a property for a younger audience means that changes need to be made to the original comics in order to make things more family friendly, which means that things are likely to get left out. The Big Hero 6 comics weren't explicitly aimed at an adult audience, and the cast of teenagers makes it easier to revamp for a younger generation. The biggest losses the series will suffer in its move to the big screen are the absence of Silver Samurai and Sunfire, who were the original leaders of the gang. Since they were the most famous characters in the series, it's a big move to drop them completely, but since both left the Big Hero 6 team in the comics, leaving Hiro in charge, the writers have pre-existing stories and relationship to drawn on for the movie without them. As the oldest members of Big Hero 6, they don't necessarily fit in with Disney's concept of a team of children fighting crime, and since Sunfire is also part of the X-Men universe, there may have also been some contractual issues at play.
In the end, though, Big Hero 6 probably won't need its two oldest members in order to be successful. By creating an entirely new narrative inspired by the comics, Disney can find different ways to ensure that the best parts of Big Hero 6 stays intact on screen, while still having the freedom to drop the elements they deem superfluous. It’s hard to tell from just the teaser how those changes will affect the film, although the drastic change in tone and target audience does seem to suggest that not much will be lost when Big Hero 6 hits theaters on November 7.
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Synopsis

The exploits of Maxwell Smart, Secret Agent 86, a bumbling klutz, and his beautiful, level-headed partner, Agent 99*, the top operatives of CONTROL, an international spy organization dedicated to destroying the diabolical objectives of KAOS, an inernational organization of evil.